Show-Me Cannabis Town Hall held

Thursday

Oct 17, 2013 at 12:00 PM

Recap of the Town Hall meeting.

Atina Roberts

Tuesday night included an active meeting with speakers regarding the decimalization of cannabis in Missouri. Well over 100 individuals attended the event.The bill is far from ready, Representative Chris Kelly said hopefully within a year he will be able to present the bill to legislation. Kelly commented that instead of creating a petition, which would need to gather signatures, he would prefer to create a bill. Kelly remarked that petitions are often ill written. Introducing the idea as a bill would streamline the issue, and would be more likely to succeed.The meeting lasted close to three hours, as those in attendance were allowed to voice their concerns and questions. The crowd consisted of those who are in favor of the decimalization bill; no one from the anti-decimalization spoke at the meeting. Local law enforcement did not attend the meeting.Several members of the crowd were very critical of the prosecuting attorney in Randolph County, claiming that the office is overly aggressive. According to Gillis Leonard it is the job of the prosecuting attorney to be aggressive. Leonard went on to explain that he has a deep respect for Mike Fusselman's (prosecuting attorney for Randolph County) office. Gillis Leonard, local defense attorney, spoke for a few minutes at the meeting Tuesday night. Leonard was critical of the lack of attendance by local law enforcement. MMI spoke to Leonard Wednesday regarding the meeting. When asked if he believed that the decimalization would save the county money Leonard explained that it is more than a monetary issue. "Wouldn't you agree that one is more than zero?" Leonard questioned "If we are spending even one dollar on draconian laws that is too much. There are better ways to spend that money. We have children in the county that are going to bed hungry." Local law enforcement has stated that they are against the decriminalization of marijuana. Chief Tarr, Moberly Police Department, told MMI that the decriminalization of marijuana is a "horrible idea" and he did not believe that it would save taxpayers money.Leonard explained that this is not just a monetary issue; he stated that in his line of work he has seen the repercussions of a possession of marijuana, no matter the quantity of the drug.When asked if he thought marijuana is a problem in Randolph County, Leonard remarked that he probably has earned enough money from clients to send one of his children to a four year private school. "I'm not in this business to make money, I'm here to help my clients. If I wanted just the money I would opt for stricter laws".Less than a 45-minute drive the laws are more lax about marijuana possession. Currently in Boone County, marijuana in a small quantity (less than 35 grams) results in a $250 fine. In Randolph County, average jail time equates to 30 days in jail and a year probation.